Wind turbines a waste of money

Wind turbines on homes in suburban areas are a waste of time and money, according to a consumer watchdog.

Tests by Which? on a £1,500 Windsave WS1000 turbine on top of a roof in Milton Keynes found the device used more electricity than it generated.

But Windsave claimed the house was not in a windy enough area and that the device needed wind speed of five metres per second before it would generate power.

Which? principal tester Christoper Christoforou told the Daily Telegraph: “We can’t recommend any domestic wind turbine if you live in a built-up environment of any sort. It really isn’t worth the money.”

The newspaper reported the turbine’s failure was due to an inverter that converts energy into a form usable by the mains – but it constantly uses power, even when the turbine isn’t turning.